August 1936.
London.
Tom
Tom was relieved at the sight of himself in the small mirror; the swelling of his eyes had gone down, and his cuts were beginning to heal. He was now able to bear the pain of his broken ribs - which was nothing compared to a harsh canning - and so pretended as though nothing was wrong. Unfortunately, the deep purple bruises remained, and he was constantly reminded of it by almost every child in the orphanage. Billy Stubbs looked so pleased with himself the day after the attack and loved to rub it in Tom's face. This only angered him more; he was special, and Billy was nothing.
"Looking a bit sore there Tom, wonder how that happened? Was the freak finally put in his place?" teased Billy, roaring with laughter when Tom didn't respond and continued to ignore him.
He was eating his morning dose of slop, which he had somehow managed to make it taste like cake and Billy's comment was ruining a pleasant breakfast. He quickly finished his food, clearing his wooden bowl from the table, when suddenly it was knocked out of his hand and hit the floor. Thankfully it hadn't broken, but the room fell silent all the same.
"Listen to me when I'm talking to you," spat Billy grabbing the back of Tom's shirt.
"I do listen; you just don't have anything particularly interesting to say," smirked Tom, slipping out of his grip and making a run for it.
He shot up the stairs, ignoring the pounding ache from his injuries, and sprinted down to his room, slamming the door behind him and locking it with a doorstop that he had discovered. It was only seconds later he heard pounding on the door, nasty insults shot at him from the boy on the other side. Surprisingly, Dennis had not joined Billy in his antics. Eventually, he gave up on trying to get into Tom's room and left with a grumble of defeat.
Tom had one month to take his revenge on Billy before the brat left for America, and he could feel the time ticking by. He had not planned to have a week spent in bed after his brutal attack, to recover from his injuries; although having time alone with nothing but your thoughts helps for brainstorming ways to torture your fellow inmate. It was precisely why he thought of such brilliant revenge.
Humiliation.
It was Billy's main aspiration when it came to bullying; to humiliate his victim. Little did Billy know, it was also Gisela's go-to source of revenge, and Tom would undoubtedly be taking a leaf out of her book in his plan. Humiliating Billy to the point of destroying his ego in front of the entire orphanage was going to be a prime moment in the switch of power in the orphanage hierarchy.
He was swimming in his mind so deep he jumped in fright and the sound of an owl tapping on the window, dangling an envelope from its foot. He jumped up to open the window, practically ripping the letter off the owl's foot, leading to him narrowly avoiding a painful bite. He eagerly sat down on his bed and tore open the envelope, to reveal a small piece of delicate parchment with expensive ink written in perfect cursive. Clearly, his dear friend's handwriting had been dramatically improved over the past few weeks, or it was the work of magic. When he began to read, however, he groaned in frustration as he realised it was written in German, and so it took him much longer to understand having to translate the foreign words.
Dearest Tommy...
The library is unbelievable... I have my own room... The Wizarding World is very expensive...
Speaking of the Professor, he is my uncle.
Tom's eyes widened in disbelief at the information, confused to how she could have possibly discovered this with her lack of a surname. How on earth had she discovered this?
I can reassure you; my father is still the bastard we assumed he was. In fact, he's the 'Most Wanted' man is Wizarding Europe. His name is 'Gellert Grindelwald' and is a dark wizard who wants to enslave the muggle world and kills anyone who disagrees with him. At least politicians have to suck it up when events don't go their way, instead of slaughtering them.
He couldn't quite believe what he was reading. Gisela's father being a criminal was believable, but certainly not to the extent of being the 'Most Wanted Wizard in Europe'. His eyes narrowed and the following lines.
I was right to assume he is indeed a wife-beater, although even Klaus knows nothing of my mother. No need to worry, however, I am perfectly safe, and Professor Klaus is all I want for a family in the Wizarding World. And you, of course. I don't need anyone but you. I'm sure that man wants nothing to do with me anyway.
If this 'Gellert Grindelwald' thought he was getting anywhere near his Gisela, especially if he intended to treat her anything like how he did to her mother, he thought wrong. There was nothing he hated more than men who disrespected the woman who did so much for them; like how the Sergeant Master beat his wife and how this 'Gellert' treated his lover. He was going to kill this man one day, to keep her safe. No one would ever touch his Gisela ever again.
Muggle Germany, Nazi Germany that is, was surprisingly not at all as bad as the British Newspapers make it out to be. I certainly didn't see starving orphans on my journey through the country. I must even admit that their uniforms are quite handsome. I know you are rolling your eyes, but it is true. No need to worry about German boys, however, I'm sure they're just as annoying as English ones like yourself. Stop pouting - I know you are.
Despite her cheeky comment - very Gisela of her - hopefully, she would discover that Muggle German boys were a waste of her time, as were Wizarding ones. The only boy she needed in her life was him; but he would forgive her eyes wandering, as long as it was just her eyes. Her comment on Nazi Germany, however, surprised him. The matron had stressed how horrible they were, but perhaps it was just because she was Jewish; why people cared so much for their pretend Gods and which God was right, he would never understand.
I have to tell you about Hogwarts! There are four houses: Ravenclaw, Gryffindor, Hufflepuff and Slytherin. Based on their qualities you are most certainly a Slytherin, Tom Riddle. It is in Scotland, and you take a train to get there.
Finally; a positive subject. Unfortunately, she was vaguer on the subject that he would have liked. Why on earth was he 'most certainly a Slytherin'? He must remember to scold her on the lack of detail; these letters were all that kept him sane.
... I'll enclose some newspaper clippings in this letter. The owl will wait for you to write a letter in reply then return to me.
His eyes jumped to the owl, patiently perched on his outer window ledge, watching him with dark beady eyes, then back to the envelope. He opened it up to find a single thin clipping with a short article written below it.
GELLERT GRINDELWALD STRIKES AGAIN
A Muggle family has been murdered in Frankfurt, only days after the Munich attack on an Auror base. Four wizards, including Grindelwald himself, have been reported to have fled the scene shortly after. The Muggles were a Jewish family, only increasing suspicion over whether or not Grindelwald is working with Hitler. The French Ministry of Magic supports the theory, while our own Ministry thinks otherwise. Head of Magical Law Enforcement, Josef Schindler, states that it would make no logical sense for a man who hates Muggles to be working with them.
Tom's eyes frantically reread the German article, surprised at how large and sophisticated the world he belonged to was. They had Ministries for each country, with different departments, and the threat of the Dark Wizard who so happens to be Gisela's creator poses such a significant threat there is suspicion as to whether or not he is working with one of the most influential world leaders. He immediately penned a letter back to her, sending it rolled up in a scroll on his cheap paper back to her. He needed to know more.
He had reread her letter and the article a few hundred times before he heard the familiar tapping on the door, notifying that lunch - a rare meal in the orphanage - was served. He slipped out of his room and headed down the narrow hallway, his footsteps silent among the loud stomping of the orphans climbing down the broken stairwell.
Entering the dining hall, he smirked. Game over, Billy.
He walked to his usual seat in the corner, with the younger children who were too young to understand the concept of bullying. Waiting for him was a bowl of slop, grey in colour and as unappetising as usual. He sat down, waiting patiently for the nursemaids to say their pointless grace before they were allowed to tuck in.
He tapped his foot quietly on the floor, watching as Billy entered with his group of cronies, including Benson and Bishop, laughing about something that no doubt involved a nasty comment about Tom, as all of the children were staring in his direction. He bit the inside of his cheek; he had to be patient, as the timing had to be perfect. The remaining children took their seats, and the staff began grace, Tom reluctantly joining hands with the orphans sitting beside him as the useless thanks were said.
They finally were able to tuck into their luke-warm slop, and while the orphans scoffed their food down, Tom ate slowly, his calculating eyes glancing at Billy from across the room. He clenched his fist around his bowl, channelling his energy, glaring with deep hatred across the room. For a moment, everything seemed normal, until the soft hissing in a familiar language could be heard.
Twenty small garden snakes crept silently across the floor, their hisses so soft only someone of extraordinary ability could hear them. They approached Billy's shoes, slithering up his legs under the hem of his trousers, so softly the boy could barely feel anything, other than slight discomfort. Tom waited until they had all disappeared from sight, before gritting his teeth, a loud scream emitting from the table across the room.
Billy stood and scream, holding his privates in agony as they were attacked from out of sight, forming a wet patch on the surface of his trousers, making him fall to the floor. The children fell silent, watching as the nursemaids ran for the boy, confused as to what on earth had caused such distress.
"Something keeps biting me!" screamed the chubby boy, not resisting as the matron pulled down his pants and showed the whole hall there was absolutely nothing inside, other than a pee-stained set of breaches.
Tom was the first to emit a giggle, leading the younger children on, as a loud chorus of laughter began to echo through the hall as Billy stood and stumbled off humiliated, still holding his privates. Even Amy Benson and Dennis Bishop couldn't resist a grin, which both pleased and annoyed Tom; this was done for his amusement and not theirs, although at least Billy's followers would no longer support him after that brilliant show of humiliation.
He couldn't wait to tell Gisela.
